Words matter. People matter. ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐น๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ โ ๐ถ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ.
So here’s an invitation and opportunity: ๐น๐ฒ๐’๐ ๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐น๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐๐ธ ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐’๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐.
๐ข๐ป๐ฏ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด
Say it slowly. On-board-ing. It’s a shipping term. You board cargo onto a vessel. You load it, secure it, check it off the manifest. And that’s the word most of us reach for on someone’s very first day at a new job – from HR to the C-suite, we’re all talking about loading cargo.
Or worse, we talk like it’s the Matrix. Plug someone in, download the job into their brain over a few weeks, done. Cargo or code – the person disappears into the process.
๐๐ณ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐.
Connecting a human to a mission, a vision, a team takes prep, patience, intention, and repetition. Most companies have the prep and the repetition down. It’s the intention and the patience we’re missing. ๐ฌ๐ผ๐’๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐น๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ผ. ๐ฌ๐ผ๐’๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐ถ๐. You prepare the ground before they arrive. You water consistently in the first weeks. You watch for what needs more light and what’s already taking hold.
๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐’๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฏ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด. ๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐’๐ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด. And that’s how we should talk about it- internally and to our newest hires. ๐ช๐ฒ’๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐. We’re planting the information that will help your career blossom, while building the harvest we’re investing in together.
We’re farmers, not ship couriers.
๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐ณ๐ณ
๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐ณ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ. It’s cold.ย It’s what shows up on an org chart next to a number and a job title. It says “position filled,” not “person here.” ๐ง๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฒ๐น๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐. A team is something you build together, something people choose to be part of, something that grows because everyone in it is contributing more than just their own lane. ๐ง๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ถ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐น ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป โ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐น๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ผ ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐. ๐๐’๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐๐น๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ’๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ผ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ.
Companies invest enormous time and capital finding the right people to help accomplish their goals and then, out of habit, hand them language built for legal and for freight. ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐ป ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐น ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป.
If we want our organizations to actually BE more human and not just say we’re people-first in the careers page copy, ๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ท๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐๐.
We’re not onboarding staff.
๐ช๐ฒ’๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ข๐ง๐๐ก๐ ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ !